Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative (CPI), in conjunction with the Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) opens the 2008-09 New Voices Series season with double one-act plays receiving staged readings by local actors.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008, at 7:30 PM
       Aronoff Center for the Arts, Fifth Third Bank Theater.
       Corner of Main and Seventh Streets.

Tickets are only $7 ($4 students).  Reservations may be made in advance at Aronoff Center Box Office, or by calling 513-621-2787,  or online at

http://www.cincinnatiarts.org/event_detail.jsp?event_id=876 Tuesday, , 2008, at 7:30 PM

One Freaky Afternoon in the Office Lunchroom
       Written by A.K. Forbes
       Directed by Nathan Henegar

On the eve of his milestone birthday, a middle aged office worker is visited by a cross-dressing birthday fairy who delivers an exciting, if unexpected, gift: the secret silver lining to being "over-the-hill."

The Cast: (One Freaky Afternoon in the Office Lunchroom)
Mike Burke as Mike
Patrick Downey as Larry
Jef Brown as Birthday Fairy
Teresa Myers as Claudia / Sheila

About the director: (One Freaky Afternoon in the Office Lunchroom)
Nathan Henegar holds a BA in theatre arts from Eastern Kentucky University and has experience as an actor, director and stage manager.  This winter he will direct Epic Proportions for the Village Players in Fort Thomas, Kentucky.

About the Playwright: (One Freaky Afternoon in the Office Lunchroom)
A.K. Forbes (Angela) holds an MA in professional writing and editing from the University of Cincinnati, where she is employed as director of creative services.  An active actor in the local community theatre scene, Angela has recently focused on playwriting.  Her one-act, It's All Fun and Games Until the Iguana Bites, was produced by Sunset Players in February.  She has several additional one-acts in the works.  In 2004, a short story she authored, Beyond Golgotha and the Kwiki Mart, was published in Rosebud as Writer magazine's first place contest winner.

Southern Exposure
       Written by Kelley Kingston-Strayer
       Directed by Mary Jo Beresford

Like a Fuller-Brush man with his foot in the door, Callie sees an opening and announces to her Grandmother, Hattie, that she has fallen in love.  After some not-so-gentle probing, Hattie decides she ain't buyin' what Callie is sellin'.    

The Cast: (Southern Exposure)
Mary Jo Beresford as Hattie
Caitlyn Allison as Callie
Lonna Kingsbury as Aunt Ida Mae
Marian Weage as Aunt Mattie
Alex Strawn as the Boy (offstage)
Craig Boldman as the Baseball Announcer (offstage)

About the director: (Southern Exposure)
Mary Jo Beresford is now in her twenty-seventh year of teaching and directing at NKU.  A few of her directing credits:  Dames At Sea, A Day In Hollywood, A Night In The Ukraine, Tintypes, Biloxi Blues, Assassins, Star-Spangled Girl, Play It Again, Sam, The Pajama Game, and eight Y.E.S. Festival world-premieres.

About the Playwright: (Southern Exposure)
A native Texan, Kelley Kingston-Strayer now lives in Kentucky.  Her short story, Southern Exposure, won the 2004 Dallas County Arts and Letters award for fiction as well as placed third in the Women Who Write prose contest for the state of Kentucky.  Her work has appeared in The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Dallas Morning News, and Calliope.